


Castle Karnstein

by fictionalportal



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, F/F, Fluff, Mild Smut, Monsters, apparently, carmilla kicking ass, who knew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-26 05:13:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3838429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalportal/pseuds/fictionalportal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carmilla and Laura are visiting the old Karnstein estate and stumble upon a very old and very fancy portrait of Carmilla (Mircalla?)<br/>Edit: Haha, this isn't gonna be G-rated anymore. AYYYYYYY</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“And here we are! This cute little cove of a drawing room was where the Karnsteins’ many dinner guests would have been received. Unfortunately we can’t go inside. It’s currently under restoration.” The peppy tourguide waved the guests away from the small room. “And here we go! Down this next hallway, you’ll find portraits of all the heads of state who…”

“We never used that room,” Carmilla whispered to Laura. “I don’t believe this woman has ever picked up a history book.” 

“Be nice, Carm,” Laura said, slapping the vampire’s arm lightly. “She’s trying. If you know everything why don’t you give the tour?”

Carmilla raised her eyebrow and grabbed Laura’s hand, leading her away from the tour group down the hallway they had taken to arrive at the drawing room. Carmilla checked that the hallway was empty and then pressed hard on a particular stone in the wall of the castle. The sound of stone against metal echoed through the hallway. 

“Would it kill them to maintain this place?” Carmilla grumbled, pulling Laura along as she made her way down the hallway. 

An entirely new branch of hallway had been revealed. Laura meandered down it until her attention was caught by a wall of regal paintings. 

“This is where the real history is,” Carmilla said as she caught up with Laura. 

“Whoa…these are beautiful!” Laura pointed to one of the portraits hanging on the wall. “Check out fancypants.” 

“Duke Karnstein,” Carmilla stated. 

“Your dad?”

“Yeah. That one’s my brother,” Carmilla said. If she was at all saddened by the memory of her family, she hid it well. 

“Oh my god.” 

“What?” 

“Is that–”

“Moving on.” 

“You’re wearing a dress!” Laura laughed. 

Carmilla’s portrait was unlabeled, just as the rest were, but she wasn’t difficult to recognize even in 17th century couture. Carmilla, or Mircalla, Laura supposed, had been painted wearing a silvery black dress tied with an elaborate silver corset. It must have taken her an hour to get dressed, let alone sit for the portrait. 

Laura noticed something even more out of character than Carmilla’s outfit. In the portrait, she was smiling ever so slightly.

“How long did this take?” Laura asked seriously. 

“It was three hundred years ago, sweetheart.” Carmilla replied. 

“You’re smiling. For a portrait.”

Carmilla started back towards the entrance of the hallway, ignoring Laura’s remark. 

Laura continued with her teasing as she followed Carmilla out of the secret hallway. “It must have taken hours. You sat and smiled in a dress. For hours.” 

Carmilla paused and looked over her shoulder at Laura. “I was happy. So I smiled.” 

Carmilla’s use of the past tense when referring to her own state of happiness made Laura’s chest tighten. She reached for Carmilla’s hand. 

“I think you look cute in a dress,” Laura said. She kissed Carmilla’s cheek.

Carmilla’s lips snuck into a smirk. “Sure you weren’t staring at my chest in that corset?” 

Laura’s face flushed pink. She released Carmilla’s hand and crossed her arms.

Carmilla elbowed a rock on the wall next to the secret hallway entrance, causing the rock wall to slide shut over metal tracks. 

“I think we lost our tour group,” Laura said. 

“Good,” Carmilla replied, taking Laura’s hand in hers. “You deserve the VIP tour.” 

Flattered, Laura smiled over at her girlfriend. Carmilla smiled back and dropped her gaze to the castle floor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You all knew that tour guide was weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like the supernatural aspects of the show are ignored a lot in fanfiction, so have a lil ass-kicking by Carmilla. And some lovely music.

Carmilla wanted to show Laura the music room. Unfortunately, that was the next stop for the annoyingly peppy tour guide and her flock. The size of the group had dwindled down to four: a young boy, his mother, and two middle-aged women in nearly identical pantsuits. 

"After dinner parties, the Karnsteins would have entertained guests with singing and dancing in this parlor," the guide said, gesturing to a room occupied by an old harpsichord and regal chairs. "The chairs have been replaced over the years, but that old piano is just as good as new! That thing just keeps on going!" 

A young boy in the tour group raised his hand and spoke. "Can you play it?" 

The tour guide laughed at an irritatingly high pitch for far too long. "I'm not too musically inclined, but--"

"I can play it." 

The little boy, the tour guide, and the rest of the tour group simultaneously snapped their gaze in the direction of the voice. 

"Excuse me?" The tour guide smiled too politely. 

"I can play it," Carmilla repeated. “The harpsichord.” 

The guide's smile tightened like she had been forced to sit and look happy for a family portrait. 

The little boy's face lit up. The tour guide hesitated, but moved out of the way and gestured for Carmilla to sit at the bench. "Be our guest." 

Carmilla pulled the creaky wooden bench up to a comfortable distance from the keys. She played a short excerpt that Laura didn’t recognize; she guessed it was probably older than Carmilla. 

When Carmilla stood up, the little boy released his grip on his mother’s hand and ran up to the leather-clad vampire-musician. 

“That was cool!” He exclaimed. “Can you play ‘Uptown Funk’ next?”

Carmilla stooped down to his level to answer. “I don’t know that song, but I can play ‘Prelude in C’ by Mozart.” 

“Oh, okay,” the little boy replied contentedly. 

Carmilla turned around to play again, but the tour guide was seated at the bench staring up at her in wonder. 

“Where did you learn that song?” She whispered so that just Carmilla could hear her. “I haven’t heard it in ages...”

Carmilla narrowed her eyes at the strange woman. “What’s with the mood swing?” She glanced down at the woman’s name tag. “...Bertha?” 

The tour guide stood abruptly and grabbed the collar of Carmilla’s leather jacket, hissing, “How do you know that song?” 

Carmilla pushed her off hard, sending her stumbling back over the bench and onto the keyboard. The sound of snapping strings and clinking keys made Laura cringe with the rest of the tour group. 

Laura reached out to grab Carmilla by the arm. “Maybe we should go,” she suggested calmly. 

Carmilla’s eyes were dark and focused, but not on Laura. “This is my house. She shouldn’t be here.” 

Laura looked past Carmilla. Her eyes widened as she noticed a haggard old woman emerging from the wreckage of the harpsichord. 

“Welcome home, Mircalla Karnstein,” the tour guide cackled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monsters? Fighting? Hell yes.

The peppy tour guide had been replaced by some hideous monster with bugging eyes. One of her feet was noticeably larger than the other. “Okay,” Laura breathed, trying not to panic. “Carmilla, we should definitely go.” 

“Get him out of here,” Carmilla said, glancing at the little boy clinging to his mother’s leg. The two middle-aged women had disappeared. 

Laura nodded and turned to usher the remaining tourists out of the parlor. She turned around and-- 

“Pantsuits!” 

Carmilla whirled around at the sound of Laura’s scream and jumped in between her girlfriend and one of the pantsuit women. 

“Who let you in here?” 

“Duke Karnstein,” one of the women began in an oddly mechanical voice, “born 1659, died 1698.” 

“Get out of my house,” Carmilla growled, literally, reaching behind her to find Laura. She brushed against her girlfriend’s arm. 

The other chimed in, her voice higher pitched and thinner. “Castle Karnstein. Settled 1476. Sold to state 1699 after the deaths of--”

“Damn German engineering,” Carmilla muttered, grabbing the second mechanowoman by the sides of the head and twisting hard. Where the head detached wires sprouted and crackled like sparklers. Carmilla kicked the headless body with a snarl, sending it straight through the first robot. 

Laura watched as Carmilla’s eyes hunted the room for the tour guide, Bertha. The vampire’s gaze settled on the harpsichord debris and she dove in headfirst. 

“Carm!” Laura reached to restrain her, but underestimated the speed of an angry vampire and grabbed at air. 

Carmilla appeared out of the rubble a second later holding Bertha in the air by her giant foot. The old woman’s eyes nearly popped out of her head as she tried to persuade Carmilla to put her down.

“Ruhe, Perchta!” Carmilla barked back. 

“Duchess Karstein--”

Carmilla flashed her fangs, silencing the tour guide instantly.

“Carmilla, please put her down,” Laura said, approaching the vampire as she might a hungry tiger. 

Carmilla released her iron grip and the woman hit the ground with a dead thud. 

Laura let out an anxious exhale. “Okay. Let’s just talk it out. With Bertha.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bertha/Perchta is a reference to a goddess in old Austrian paganism. I only did some light research, so if anything is horribly messed up and you catch it, please let me know. Thanks for reading! Comments and such always appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently people have been living in Castle Karnstein. What the Fux?

After sending the tourist boy and his mother down a secret passageway out of the castle, Laura was able to convince Carmilla that more answers could be extracted from Bertha by talking than by ass-kicking. The two girls sat on the floor and Bertha remained standing, though in her wrinkled, decrepit harpy form she was barely taller than Laura when seated. 

Carmilla had calmed down: no fangs, no eyes full of blood lust. She sat cross-legged on the floor of the former music room, leaning towards Bertha and staring her down intensely. Laura was on her left. 

Bertha paced as she explained. “Nobody from town comes here anymore and the castle was becoming impossible to maintain. He tried all sorts of touristy hoaxes. The ice cream shop was relatively successful, but only in the warmer weather. He wanted to make money off the land without having to sell it, so he hired tour guides and--”

“Who is ‘he?’” Carmilla interrupted. 

Bertha’s lazy right eye rolled to the side as she looked at Carmilla. “Duke Karnstein. Your father.” 

“My father was murdered.” Carmilla spat.

A glint appeared in Bertha’s good eye. “Ah, but so were you, my dear. It appears the Karnsteins have more secrets than just tunnels and hidden rooms.” 

The little worry line, the one that usually only appeared when Laura stayed at the library past sundown, etched itself between Carmilla’s eyebrows. Laura looked from Carmilla to Bertha and back, eyes wide. She reached for Carmilla’s hand. Carmilla flinched at the touch, but took Laura’s hand. 

An icy wind swept through the room. Without any real warning, wisps of blue smoke conflated into an amorphous silhouette in front of the ruined harpsichord. Laura squeezed Carmilla’s hand tighter. 

“No, no, NO!” The figure took the shape of a man dressed in period clothes not unlike a bad Mozart impersonator. He began monologuing, unaware that there was anyone else in the music room. 

“Who did this?! I have feared this day, that where my most prized possession would be reduced to rubble! Whence it came, it must return,” he said. He noticed Bertha on cue. “Bertha! You’ll scare the guests off with that face. Change it back, Change it back!” 

Smoke swirled around Bertha until she disappeared. When the smoke dissipated, the peppy tour guide stood in her place. 

She gestured to Carmilla and Laura, who rose off the floor. “Duke Karnstein, we have a very special guest today.” 

Carmilla glared at the ghostly figure as he turned to face her and Laura. 

“Ah, welcome? Is it your birthday? We’ll get you a free coupon to the ice cream shoppe--”

“Fux.” Carmilla spat. The ghost’s expression turned nervous. He tugged down at the cuffs of his sleeves. 

Laura turned to her, shocked. “I really hope that means something else in German, because that’s really no way to talk to your dad--”

“Johann Fux. This isn’t my father.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johann Joseph Fux, Austrian composer and music theorist responsible for writing a very important music "textbook" or guidebook of sorts called "Gradus ad Parnassum." yep. Fux. Gotta love it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adventures with the undead.

“Herr Fux,” Carmilla said, a saccharine smile replacing her glower, “I didn’t expect to see you again.” 

“Nor I you, Mircalla,” he replied. In a fatal move, he attempted to make small talk. “How is your brother, oh what was his name...”

“Dead. Like the rest of us.” 

The ghost’s face displayed exaggerated concern and surprise. “Well, why didn’t you tell me sooner? I could have prepared something for the funerals.”

Carmilla took a step towards the ghost. “Listen, Fux.” 

“My dear, the harpsichord needed me--”

Another step. “I don’t care why you’re here.” Another. “You’re leaving.” 

The ghost appeared to swallow, a natural human reflex to maintain after death. Carmilla still breathed regularly, Laura recalled. 

“You mentioned an ice cream shop?” Laura cut in, stepping next to Carmilla and addressing the ghost. She slid her hand into Carmilla’s and held it firmly, trying to keep her from another violent outburst. Carmilla looked at Laura, thrown by her random interruption. Laura raised her eyebrows at Carmilla, challenging the vampire to trust the courageous tiny human. 

The ghost of Johann Fux was just as put off by Laura’s entrance as Carmilla, but he jumped at the chance to save his skin. “Yes. Yes! Down in the lobby--er, the ballroom.” Carmilla shot him a deadly glance. “Free for you, of course, Miss Karnstein, and your friend.” 

“Laura is my girlfriend,” Carmilla corrected. 

Laura smiled widely at the ghost. “Lead the way, Mr. Fux.” 

The girls and Bertha followed the ghost into the hallway, but he stopped abruptly. 

“Bertha, stay and clean up this mess.” He waved his hand at the pile of wood that was once a harpsichord. 

“Of course.” Bertha plastered on an irritated smile and disappeared back into the music room. 

The ghost muttered to himself, “Now, I suppose we’ll have to take the long way, seeing as you are both made of flesh...that way..? No, no...” 

Carmilla’s shoulders tensed and she marched straight through the ghost down the hallway, an exasperated sigh escaped as she passed through the spirit. 

“Oh, my, I--yes, that way,” the ghost said as he watched his abdomen split and reform underneath him. 

Laura kept pace with the ghost as her moody girlfriend led the way to the ballroom. She decided now was as good a time as any to strike up a conversation. 

“Herr Fux?” 

He looked down at Laura. He was at least a foot taller than she was, but he gained a few extra inches floating off the ground. “Yes, my dear? Laura?”

“Yes,” Laura smiled. “How long have you been here?” 

“Oh, centuries,” he replied, waving his hand through the air dismissively. “I taught the Karnstein boy when he was young. His sister took a few lessons with me, but she preferred practicing on her own.”

“That’s Carmilla,” Laura shrugged. 

“You know, I always thought her name was Mircalla.” 

“It was,” Laura replied. “Now it’s Carmilla.” 

“Hm.” Fux nodded his approval. “Change is good for the soul. Unless you’re nothing but a soul, in which case you’re trapped!” He guffawed at his own joke. 

“Why are you still here?” Laura asked. 

“I take care of the castle. Mostly the instruments. That harpsichord was my pride and joy, I tell you.” 

“Sorry about that. Carm overreacted a little.” 

Laura heard Carmilla scoff from ahead of them. They turned a final corner and arrived in a large, open space with a few tourists inside. 

“Welcome to the lobby!” Fux announced grandly. Carmilla took in the ridiculousness of the scene, which included a cotton candy stand, a schnitzel vendor, cheesy photobooths, and an ice cream shoppe with a sign above it that read “Aus-Treat Yourself!”

Laura took Carmilla’s hand. Carmilla turned to her, dropping the Danny-Lawrence-just-interrupted-us-again face. 

“Ice cream?” Laura asked. 

Carmilla rolled her eyes, but let Laura lead her over to the ice cream shoppe.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to eat when your girlfriend is hitting it off with an undead composer. Followed by ***fluff***

Carmilla felt like she was at a circus. She was eating bright red raspberry sorbet at a faux-wooden table in what used to be one of the most famous ballrooms in Austria. Now it was a tourist destination. Worse, she was now third wheeling her girlfriend and the ghost of her old music tutor.

Carmilla glared across the table at the strange pair. Laura was listening attentively as the ghost rambled about counterpoint. If his body had been solid, he'd have knocked over Laura’s ice cream a dozen times with his wild gesticulating. While Laura’s eyes stayed on the composer, her hand blindly found its way to the gummy bears topping her ice cream. She popped them into her mouth two or three at a time all the while watching the ghost flail about third species versus florid versus...

It was the same spiel he would give during his lessons with her brother. Carmilla had heard it enough. She dropped her ice cream cup on the table and cut in.

“Not to be rude, but don’t you have a harpsichord to fix, Fux?” Her glare was cold enough to refreeze her melting sorbet.

“That may take a few years,” he started jovially, “so why not converse with this lovely young lady for a minute longer?”

Carmilla stared him down, but neither he nor Laura took note.

The ghost picked up again. “As I was saying, my dear, third species is most appropriately integrated into composition when--”

In one swift movement, Carmilla was gone. She had knocked her metal chair over with a sickening clang and was now on the other side of the ballroom eating sorbet while sneering in front of a souvenir stand that sold scale models of the castle. _Her_ castle.

Laura’s brow furrowed at the familiar sight of a moody Carmilla.

“I better go,” Laura said apologetically to the ghost.

“A pleasure to meet you, Laura,” Fux said. “And do tell Mircalla I hold no grudge for the harpsichord damage. Bertha is rather prone to jumping into a fight whenever one presents itself.”

“Thank you, Mr. Fux. Good luck with everything!”

“Best keep it for yourself. She can be difficult.”

Laura conceded with a nod and looked over at Carmilla again.

A puff of barely detectable blue smoke replaced Johann Fux’s ghost and dissipated quickly. Laura took her ice cream with her to go talk Carmilla out of her funk. To Laura’s dismay, there were only three gummy bears left due to her absent-minded snacking.

“Carmilla?” Laura said hesitantly, walking up behind her grumpy travel buddy.

“What?” The way Carmilla spat the word out, it hardly passed for a question.

Laura tried not to take it personally. She was in a good mood after talking to the composer’s ghost. “What’s got your corset strings tangled?”

“My sorbet is melting,” Carmilla replied in the same acrimonious tone, “so instead of talking about feelings, I’m going to continue watching its inevitable concession to universal entropy.”

“I can wait.” Laura, as stubborn as ever, crossed her arms over her chest and tossed her ice cream cup in the trash. She was out of gummy bears.

“Surely you’re missing some inspired history lesson from Fux.”

“Are you actually mad at me for paying attention to someone else?”

“Someone who reminds me too much of people who have been gone for a few centuries.”

“Oh,” Laura said. No matter how much Carmilla claimed not to care about or even remember her original family, she couldn’t lie to Laura for long.

Laura placed a hand on Carmilla’s shoulder. Carmilla did not turn to face her; she barely glanced over her shoulder at her smiling girlfriend.

“Hey,” Laura began, running her hand from Carmilla’s shoulder down to take her hand, “let’s head to the hotel. Staring at old walls is exhausting.”

Carmilla flashed a tight but thankful smile, finally turning to face Laura. Laura took Carmilla’s other hand and then kissed her softly, once, twice, lingering.

“Hope you’re not too tired,” Carmilla whispered with a sly smile.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shower sex hell yes

They arrived at their hotel around ten at night. It had been about a two hour drive each way to the castle, but Carmilla had very much wanted to show it to Laura. As soon as they entered the room, Carmilla collapsed on the queen bed, flopping on top of the covers with her shoes still on. 

“I’m gonna shower, okay?” Laura called from the bathroom of their cozy hotel room. It was small, but not cramped. Just the perfect amount of space to mandate cuddling. 

Laura stripped off her white cotton shirt and jeans. As she turned the water on, she heard Carmilla say something indiscernible from the other room. 

“Carm? Did you say something?” Laura turned away from the shower and was surprised to see Carmilla standing in the door frame. 

“I asked if you wanted company.” 

“Uh. Sure. There is this one spot on my back I can never quite reach.” 

“I’ll be sure to pay extra attention to that ‘one spot.’” Carmilla was already removing her black shirt off as she spoke. 

Laura dropped her underclothes on the ground and hopped in the shower. Carmilla was still struggling to get her leather pants off. 

“What’s the rush, cupcake?” Carmilla grunted out as she pulled one pant leg over her foot. 

“Hey, can you hand me the bar soap?” Laura said loudly. 

Carmilla continued grumbling until she had finally gotten the pants off. Once all of her clothes were haphazardly strewn about the bathroom, she grabbed the soap and joined Laura in the shower. Carmilla presented the soap to her, but Laura was distracted. 

She was facing the shower head but was looking down at her chest. 

“Laura.” Carmilla waved the soap in her face. Laura grabbed it without looking up at Carmilla and placed the soap on the little shelf in the corner of the shower. 

“Does one of them look bigger to you?” Laura asked.

“Uh,” Carmilla laughed uncomfortably. “The bars of soap?”

“You know what I mean, Carm. Look,” Laura gestured for Carmilla to examine her bare chest. Carmilla avoided the gesture, looking around at the tiles on the walls instead. “The left one is definitely bigger.” 

“So what?” 

“Well does it look bigger?”

Carmilla paused and glanced at Laura’s chest. She looked back at Laura’s face and raised an eyebrow at her. 

“This is serious! Or at least it could be,” Laura started. “What if I need to get checked for--”

Carmilla cut her off in the most effective way possible, grabbing her by the face and kissing her hard. Laura didn’t try to push her away at first. Whatever train of thought she had been following was now completely derailed. Her hands came up to rest on Carmilla’s hips. 

Once Carmilla tried to push Laura against the wall of the shower, Laura started pushing Carmilla in the opposite direction by the shoulders--straight into temperature control handle in the wall. 

Carmilla let out a sound of mild discomfort. “Laura,” she mumbled once with no reaction. She pulled back and held Laura at bay, hands cupping the sides of her jaw. 

“Laura.” 

“Yeah?” She was out of breath. It wasn’t uncommon for Laura to forget about such things as breathing when she was busy with her girlfriend. 

“My spine is bruising.” 

“Oh, geez, sorry,” Laura exclaimed, pulling her hands away and taking a half step back from Carmilla. 

“It’s fine,” Carmilla grumbled, rubbing her back. She paused. “Where was that spot you wanted me to get?”

Laura turned around and stretched a bent right arm behind her shoulder to indicate a spot in the middle of her back. Carmilla took her hand and stepped up behind her, bringing both their arms around to rest their hands on Laura’s waist. Carmilla laid her other hand on Laura’s left shoulder. She placed a kiss on the back of Laura’s neck, trailing down until she reached the spot just below the shoulder blades that Laura had pointed out. She scratched down from Laura’s shoulder to where her lips lingered and trailed kisses back up her back as she continued scratching at the spot in the middle of Laura’s back. 

Laura turned to look over her shoulder just as Carmilla’s lips kissed the back of Laura’s neck again. Seeing Laura turn, Carmilla continued kissing around her neck to her jaw and to her lips. Laura leaned back against her girlfriend for a better angle, but after a moment turned around completely and wrapped her arms around Carmilla’s neck. They kissed for several minutes before Carmilla got impatient. 

She brought one hand around from her grip on Laura’s back, tracing around her side and down her stomach and lower. Once two of her fingers found their destination, Carmilla had to suppress a smirk at Laura’s sharp inhale. Carmilla worked quickly, occasionally planting a poorly aimed kiss somewhere in the vicinity of Laura’s lips. Laura’s breathing was heavy and her eyes were clamped shut. It didn’t take long for her to tighten around Carmilla’s fingers after a few deft curling motions. 

“I think I got it,” Carmilla whispered. 

Carmilla’s hands had made their way to Laura’s hips. Once Laura had come back down, she tried to reciprocate, but suddenly Carmilla drew back the shower curtain and grabbed a towel.

“Where are you going?” Laura asked, bewildered and more than a little frustrated. 

“Bed,” Carmilla replied, towel drying her hair and walking out of the bathroom. “I’ll let you finish up in here.” 

“That was the plan,” Laura muttered to herself. 

“You know I can hear you, cupcake,” Carmilla called from the other room. 

Laura rolled her eyes and then commented to herself on the action. “Bet you can’t hear that.” 

Laura finished cleaning herself off, opting not to waste time on conditioner, and practically leapt out of the shower to wrap herself in a towel. Her hair was dripping when she exited the bathroom to see Carmilla curled up around a pillow on the bed. She had put on pajama pants--her own--and one of Laura’s tank tops. 

“...Carm?” Laura whispered as she approached the bed. 

“It’s before my bedtime, sweetheart. Now hurry up.” 

Laura listened and pulled on pajama shorts and her favorite olive green tank top. She climbed into bed next to Carmilla, extracting the pillow from her girlfriend’s vice grip. Carmilla looked up at Laura as the tiny human settled down and propped herself up on one elbow facing the vampire. 

“So...” Laura gave it her best effort, but her attempt at seductress came out awkward. Carmilla managed a rough laugh as she pulled Laura down so that her head was next to Carmilla’s on the pillows. 

“So.” Carmilla sounded like she was trying to start a conversation rather than engage in less verbal activity. Laura followed her cue. 

“I liked seeing your house today,” Laura said. 

“I thought all those bricks bored you,” Carmilla joked, wrapping an arm around Laura’s waist and pulling her closer. 

“No, I loved it. Honestly.” 

“I love you.” 

Laura’s eyes brightened and she smiled wide. It was the same reaction every time, and Carmilla was certain it was a quirk of Laura’s that could never become annoying. 

“I love you, too,” Laura said, placing her hand on Carmilla’s arm. “So, did you want to--”

“Cuddle? Yes,” Carmilla interrupted, changing positions rapidly. She released Laura’s waist with a recoil, pushing Laura flat on her back. Carmilla then decided to use Laura’s abdomen as a pillow, bringing her arm back around to cling to Laura’s side. Laura let her hand land in Carmilla’s hair, gently playing with it as she felt Carmilla’s breathing slow. She wasn’t asleep and wouldn’t be for hours, but she entered a sort of meditative state when she was resting with Laura. 

Laura felt herself drifting off and could have sworn she heard Carmilla purr more than once before falling asleep with her hand tangled in long, dark hair.


End file.
